Mesospheric CO2 Clouds on Mars: Hypotheses on their Dynamical and Microphysical Origin

Anni Määttänen (1) , Franck Montmessin (1) , F. Gonzalez-Galindo (2) , A. Spiga (3, 4) , François Forget (3, 4)

1 PLANETO - LATMOS
2 IAA - Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
3 IPSL - Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace
4 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)

In this work we will compare the overall CO2 cloud dataset to the LMD Mars Global Climate Model predictions (MGCM, Forget et al. 1999, Gonzalez-Galindo et al. 2009) and discuss the origins of the different cloud characteristics, related to microphysical processes. Some of the OMEGA clouds have the appearance of a cumuliform cloud, possibly suggesting convective formation mechanism. We will evaluate the possibility of mesospheric convection on Mars based on OMEGA and SPICAM observations.

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]; Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

Anni Määttänen, Franck Montmessin, F. Gonzalez-Galindo, A. Spiga, François Forget. Mesospheric CO2 Clouds on Mars: Hypotheses on their Dynamical and Microphysical Origin. Fourth international workshop on the Mars atmosphere: Modelling and observations, Feb 2011, Paris, France. pp.420-423. ⟨hal-00642917⟩